Maradonia Rewritten
by SensiblePeople
Summary: Maradonia is a great name. It's a pity the book doesn't really live up to it. And that is where we come in...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: We do not own Maradonia or ANYTHING associated with it and do you know what? We're actually kind of glad. Gloria Tesch, we honestly think Maradonia could have some potential, we really do. C'mon, it's a fantasy land with a name that's actually pronounceable- pretty rare nowadays. We think that with editing, grammar checking and some actual thought it could be a half decent story and by the way, we're doing this through minimal knowledge of the book as all Maradonia extracts have vanished off the face of the internet. For SUCH a popular book that is quite an achievement.**

**So here it is: Our revised version of Maradonia and the Seven Bridges, AKA the first Maradonia fanfic and aren't we proud.**

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Prologue

The feast was being prepared at the palace of Apollyon, the Emperor of the Apollyonic empire. All the generals and minor leaders of the underworld and the army had arrived for the meeting of the High Council.

Arabella, one of the spies in the service of the underworld, was still waiting for her audience with Apollyon but the generals who hoped to curry his favour never gave her a chance. _They're like vultures_, she thought. _Just wanting high positions and power_. The vultures ordered her to sit at the far end of the hall and she could swear they laughed at her as they went to take their seats at the high table.

Once everyone was seated silence fell as they all waited anxiously for their ruler. The silence seemed to stretch on and on until the two doors at one end of the hall were thrown open and Apollyon strode in. There was the sound of chairs scraping against the stone floor as people scrambled to stand. Apollyon walked slowly to his position at the high table then motioned for them all to sit, though he did not sit himself.

"I declare this, the meeting of the council of the Apollyonic Empire, to have begun." He said, his voice echoing around the large chamber. "I welcome-" at this Arabella sat up a little straighter; perhaps now someone would finally remember her and the information she had brought with her… "-the seven ravens who bring us important news." Arabella slumped in her seat and resisted the urge to put her head in her hands. She half wanted to just leave but like anyone else under the rule of Apollyon, she knew better. "The ravens told me of our defeat at the hands of two _children_. And who led our armies? Why, it was none other than Abbadon." At this every pair of eyes in the room turned towards the general who sat on the left of Apollyon's throne and was staring stonily ahead, though a faint blush crept across his cheeks. "Abbadon, I do not think it fair that a man of your stature should have to endure the shame of defeat and as such I think it only correct that you save what is left of your honour by following tradition and falling upon your sword." Abbadon's expression was no longer stony and impassive but fearful. Apollyon continued: "But now I see that you have forgotten your sword! Never mind, my friend, for you may use mine." He smiled cruelly and drew his sword. The hiss as it was removed from its sheath was heard all around the chamber and was somehow more ominous than usual. Apollyon motioned at Abbadon to stand and delighted in the abject terror that emanated from him.

Everyone was silent; nobody breathed, nobody moved.

With a shaking hand Abbadon took the blade and Apollyon's voice came out in a whisper and even that whisper echoed. "We are doing you a kindness, Abbadon."

Abbadon raised the sword and plunged it between his ribs, knowing full well that if he did not Apollyon would find a punishment far crueller for him.

"I apologise, my lord," he managed to choke out before his body crumbled to the floor. Apollyon removed the sword from Abbadon's chest and wiped it clean on Abbadon's cloak.

"I will not have it said that the Emperor Apollyon allows his generals to endure the shame of defeat." He spoke pleasantly but everyone saw the veiled threat. A repeat of Abbadon's failure would bring the same fate. "So, you must be wondering how we could be defeated by two children. Well, to learn how I sent the ravens to gather more information. They went to Maradonia and there, in the capital Selinka, they heard of a lake that lies between the Canyon River, the Thordis River and the Cornerstone Cliff. Long ago the waters of this lake were infused with magic by Ruach an ancient wizard. Ruach made it so that anyone who bathed in that lake's waters would be immune to our powers by hurling our ancestor's castle into it. King Astrodoulos of Maradonia sent the two children along with his army and generals to bathe in this lake- thus making our magic ineffective against them."

One of the other high ranking lords whispered to his neighbour. "How could such a thing have gone unnoticed?"

"Do you have something to add?" The lord realised that everyone had heard him.

"No sire."

"Then please do not interrupt me." Apollyon clenched his fist then opened his hand to reveal a ball of black fire which he threw at the lord who had interrupted him. A moment later, and all that remained was a pile of ash. "So, the spies returned from their mission with this information and I did a little research, for our records go back even further than those of Maradonia, and I learned a little secret that may just help us win this war…"

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**AN: Yes, we killed off Abbadon, but be fair; he mucked up a military operation against two children. No evil overlord would have shown mercy. Anyway, it's ok Gloria gave us lots of spares in the original work to replace him. Like Gertrude (No joke, a fairy leader in the evil empire is actually called Gertrude. Oh, and we changed the name of the empire didn't we? Well Evil Empire was a bit of a rubbish name.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: we still do not own anything remotely Maradonian and we still remain proud of that fact. VERY proud. Again we have edited things slightly: We're afraid that Joey and Maya are no longer siblings and we are attempting to rid both of the Mary-Sueness. Oh, and chapters one and two are going to be fused together because so little actually happens in them that's worth reading.**

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Chapter one

Maya felt sick. Properly, physically sick.

"Come on Maya!" her mother called from the other side of her bedroom door

Maya groaned and snuggled further under her duvet. The first day back at school was a date she had been dreading. Last semester hadn't exactly ended well… she closed her eyes and tried to force the memory of Alana Terence's constant insults out of her mind. Alana had been bullying Maya for the past year and it seemed unlikely that she was about to let up any time soon.

She moaned loudly as her duvet was cruelly pulled off her and the curtains parted so that sunlight filled the room, banishing the wonderful, kind darkness.

"Mom!" She protested, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the light. "Did you have to do that?"

"Breakfast's ready and you are _not_ being late." Her mom answered firmly and Maya admitted defeat.

* * *

Maya hated school, mostly because of Alana Terence but also because she was shy to the point of being socially crippled. She was in the 10th grade at Oceanside High, had been there for about a year, and yet still hadn't really made any friends there. Perhaps it was the fact that talking to people she didn't really know made her want to throw up, or maybe it was the fact that she was a complete dork- she couldn't be entirely sure.

To be fair though, she did have one friend…technically. Joey was her friend _outside_ of school. At school he was just too much of an idiot and she didn't like his friends; he was constantly showing off to them. But outside of school he was sweet and funny and a good person. She had been friends with Joey for as long as she could remember. It was the usual story: their mothers had been friends for god-knows-how-long and had put their children together to play while they drank cups of tea and coffee. Maya had gone to a different school for a few years but now she was at Joey's. Her mother had thought that being at Joey's school would help with her shyness. Sadly, it was yet to have any effect. That was the fault of Joey's school persona mostly. Maya didn't want to lose Joey's friendship, but dealing with him in school was something she just didn't want to have to bother with.

* * *

An hour later she was walking down a school corridor and still wanting to hurl. Luckily she hadn't met Alana yet and was desperately hoping that she wouldn't for most of the day. She kept her head down in class, as usual, and ate her lunch in a mostly ignored corner of the cafeteria. She berated herself for not having the guts to go and talk to some people, for not trying to make any friends- how could she expect other people to want to be friends with her if she didn't talk to anyone? But every time she thought about talking to strangers her throat seemed to close up and when she did actually manage to say something she would always stammer or her voice would be too quiet for anyone to hear- and often it was both.

She was at her locker when Joey came to talk to her after lunch.

"You ok?" He asked, checking over his shoulder to see if any of his friends were around.

"The coast is clear, Joe," Maya sighed. She was definitely the school loser- even her oldest friend was embarrassed to be around her. She turned back to her locker and pulled out a book. "Look, if you're so embarrassed to be near me then you might as well not bother."

"I'm not embarrassed!" he protested. "It's just I have a reputation to uphold-" He stopped abruptly when he saw Maya grinding her teeth with anger.

"Fine," she said shortly, slamming her locker door. "Go preserve your precious reputation." She hissed as she turned and walked away. She felt herself shaking with shock and anger and hurt. It wasn't fair! Why did she have to be so scared of other people? Why couldn't she be someone instead of nothing?

Maya soon regretted her little outburst when she realised that it had caught Alana's attention.

"Had a little lover's tiff, then?" Alana asked sweetly when Maya pushed past her on her way to her next lesson.

"I don't know what you mean." Maya said, wishing that she could force her voice to be louder so that she wouldn't sound so scared. Alana linked her arm with Maya's- at first it seemed strangely friendly gesture but then Alana tightened her grip and Maya yelped with the sudden pain.

"Oh, sorry Maya, did I hurt you?" She sneered as she dragged Maya down the corridor. "Never mind. I hope you're looking forward to this new semester; I know I am." With that she gave Maya's arm one more painful squeeze and sailed off down the corridor.

Maya leaned her back against the wall and exhaled loudly. Another semester of Alana's merciless bullying. Great.

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**AN. (Raksha) My apologies for removing the fight- while it would have been hilarious I thought that Maya smacking Alana in the face would have been a bit too out of character. Plus the black belt thing really bugged me. **

**(Rashel) I know this has cut out a lot, like Joey's crazily good poster-making skills and Maya's general perfection, but can anyone genuinely say they miss those bits? If Maya really was a black belt she wouldn't be getting bullied anyway, she'd have beaten them up and that would have been the end of it. Then again, if you pay attention to small details like that you'll go insane by the end of the 3****rd**** chapter...**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN. We do not own Maradonia, bla bla bla… also; any ellipses in this chapter are dedicated to their loyal abuser: Gloria Tesch.**

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Chapter 2

As soon as he had checked that no one was watching, Joey walked home with Maya that day.

"I'm sorry!" He said repeatedly. "I really am, I wasn't thinking"

"I know _that_." Maya said. "Joey, I do believe you." She paused at her garden gate and sighed, letting her shoulders sag. "I just…" She then voiced what she had been thinking all day. "I just can't deal with your school persona."

"I'll make it up to you." He promised.

"Oh yeah, how?" Maya asked skeptically. They both turned when Maya's mom came out of the house.

"Hello Joey," She called cheerily. "How are you?"

"I'm well, thanks," He grinned. That was when he was struck by a sudden idea. "Mrs Roberts… would it be alright if Maya came with me to a party this Saturday?" He carefully ignored the look of fury that spread across Maya's face and instead watched the look of delight that unfurled across her mother's.

"Of course! I'm sure that's exactly what Maya needs right now, a nice evening spent socialising…"

"I am going to kill you." Maya whispered.

"This is me making up for earlier. You'll love it when you're there."

"No; you have just sentenced me to hours of torture."

"Whatever. I'll see you at school tomorrow!" and with that he waved to Maya's mom and walked off home.

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" Maya felt her mom link their arms together in a way that was not unlike Alana's- just without the pain but with all of the threat. "We _must_ go shopping and get you a makeover! We can spend some girl time, just you and me. Won't that be fun?" And there it was the threat of going shopping with mom.

* * *

As the week progressed Joey seemed to have tried to change a bit at school, although she still saw him checking around himself constantly. Whether that was consciously done or just habit she wasn't sure. Alana was also up to her usual thing: snide remarks casually tossed in Maya's direction, tripping Maya up so that she dropped her things then yelling at her for being clumsy and carefully making sure that Maya continued to feel like an outcast.

Then the dreaded Saturday came and Maya's mom's threats all came true. Maya was forced to go shopping which on the face of it didn't sound too bad- but her mother was somehow still one of those teenage girls who live for clothes and make-up and she was forever trying to get Maya to be like her. Maya was forced to go into shop after shop to try on skirts and tops and frilly dresses that Maya was sure made her look about four but her mother insisted that no, they were the _height_ of fashion for teenagers. Eventually Maya agreed on a black skirt with a matching top and she was dragged home for part two of the torture: hair and make-up. She felt like some kind of doll by the end of it- or maybe a clown. Her hair was curled and coated with layers of hairspray to keep it in place (the whole house seemed to stink of it by the end) and so much mascara was applied to her eyelashes that Maya was actually surprised she could even open her eyes.

"There, what do you think?" Her mom asked smugly, holding out a hand mirror so that Maya could see herself.

"I don't look like me." She said flatly. Most of the same features were there: the long brown hair (normally straight, but right now it was curled), hazel eyes that had been lined with black. "I feel ridiculous."

"That's not the point. You look gorgeous- just think of all the guys you'll impress when you're there!" And with that her mom seemed to go into a happy daydream in which her daughter was dating the hottest guy in her year…

"Mom! Wake up!" Maya waved a hand in front of her mother's face while she jerked back to reality.

"Oh! Sorry, did I zone out a bit there?" The doorbell rang and Maya stood up reluctantly and her mom leapt up excitedly. "Come on Maya! That must be Joey." Indeed it was and soon Maya was getting into Joey's mom's car and being driven away.

* * *

"So whose party is it?" Maya asked.

"Derrick Jones'. You know him, don't you?"

"Of course I know that idiot. Who doesn't?" Maya was trying to stop the butterflies from swarming in her stomach. She was fighting nausea and all the many things that came with her nerves and shyness. "This was such a bad idea." She said in a small voice.

"What's wrong?" Joey asked- and Maya was touched by the fact that she could actually detect concern in his voice. Maybe he was still her friend after all…

"I feel a bit sick."

"You shouldn't feel nervous- you look amazing and different, no one'll recognize you." The car stopped outside Derrick's fairly large house. "Come on," Joey said and pulled Maya out of the car then dragged her up to the house.

Joey dragged Maya round the back of the house to Derrick's (even larger) garden where they were greeted by their host.

"Hey Joey!" Derrick yelled. "Welcome to the party! Wow, who's the chick? Is she your girlfriend?" Maya pulled her hand out of Joey's and wished she could bring herself to reply. Go out with Joey? Derrick really didn't recognize her.

"No, we're not dating," Joey assured Derrick. "Though you never know… Anyway, this is Maya- you know Maya, right?"

"_You're_ Maya?" Maya tried not to feel offended at the shock in his voice. She also tried to say something without stammering.

"Y-yes…" Well that failed. A brief raised eyebrow, then Derrick turned away and started talking to Joey about some video game and Maya wandered off to disappear in the crowd.

* * *

The garden was massive. It seemed like everyone in the 10th grade was there milling across the lawn and surrounding the swimming pool. Maya felt like more of an outcast at that party than she had ever felt before in school. What the hell was she doing there? She wasn't a party person at all. She ended up standing beside the pool wondering what exactly she was supposed to do. She didn't know how long she would be there.

"Maya Roberts, don't you look pretty," Maya turned around to see Alana smiling in her rather evil way.

"He-hello, Alana," Maya tried to not sound too scared.

"I would never have expected to see you at a party. It's shocking!" She laughed a little. "Still, we might as well have some fun, eh? Let's have a little swim." And Alana pushed Maya roughly into the pool.

Maya felt her head crack against the side and tried to cry out in pain but found herself falling under the water. She wondered if people were just standing around laughing at her. That would be perfectly normal, wouldn't it? Who would want to help her, the school loser?

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**AN. So, will Maya drown thus ending this really horrible story? Will Alana face any kind of repercussions? Will Joey stop being an ass? Does anyone care? Please review to let us know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN. Well Maya hasn't died so Maradonia lives on! Thank you for all the reviews! Oh and we don't own Maradonia blablabla...**

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Maya was aware of only two things:

1. She was underwater

2. Her head hurt and sleep seemed like _such _a good idea even if it did mean that she would drown.

"Maya! Maya!" She heard voices calling, echoing faintly through the water. _Go away,_ she told them. _Let me sleep..._ She felt arms around her, pulling her upwards until her head broke the surface.

"Joe! I got her!" That sounded like Joey's friend... the one he actually spoke to at school...

"Maya!" That voice sounded like Joey's. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to edge of the pool and then out of it. Someone else wrapped a blanket around her. She tried to open her eyes but the light made her head hurt even more. She coughed a bit.

"My head hurts" Her voice was slurred.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Someone asked.

"Yeah- looks like she's concussed"

"How'd she end up in the pool?"

"Alana pushed her-"someone whispered but was then hushed by someone else. Maya was too tired to work out who the people were. The effort of staying awake was becoming too much so Maya let her eyes close and her head loll back...

"Maya! Wake up!" She felt Joey shaking her. "Is the ambulance on its way?"

"Lemme sleep..." She protested but Joey kept shaking her awake.

"Yeah- the guy said it should get here in a few minutes or something." Some of the crowd dispersed now that the exciting part was over and eventually it was just Joey and Derek and a few others who were wondering what to do about Alana in between trying to keep Maya awake.

"She could have _drowned_, Joe" Derek was saying.

"Do you want to try and get Alana to leave Maya alone? I tried before. It just got worse."

"I could try-"

"Don't bother. Alana will just start saying that Maya has two boyfriends and start goading her and all the crap that follows that."

Sirens were heard in the distance and Derek went out to the road to guide the medics in.

"She's here; we think she's concussed…"

One shone a light in Maya's eyes and she flinched away from it. "Looks like a concussion; we should get her to the hospital and check her out."

"Has anyone called her parents?" One asked Joey, whose arm was still around Maya's shoulders.

"Not yet. We called you and were trying to stop her from going to sleep…" They nodded.

"You should call her parents and get them to meet us at the hospital"

"Can I come with her in the ambulance? Just so she has a friend there- you know, to hold her hand…"

"Okay, but make sure that someone gets a message to her parents."

"I'll do it- what's her number?" Derek said and Joey rattled of the relevant digits before following the medics back to ambulance with Maya on a stretcher.

"We need to keep her awake" said a medic so Joey resumed poking her and occasionally shaking her awake until they got to the hospital.

* * *

Maya's mother was worried at first until she found out that her daughter would be fine. She met them at the hospital and fussed around Maya in front of the doctors and then praised Maya as soon as the doctors told her that she would be perfectly fine and they were safely in the car and going home.

"This is good! Something like this could be really-"

"Really what Mom?" Maya interrupted. "And how is this good? My head hurts and I had to be brought to hospital!"

"Calm down darling. This is good because it means that you're more well-known at school now. You can use this to finally get yourself higher on the social ladder!"

"Mom!" Maya wanted to shout at her mother.

"Well _I'm_ glad you're ok." Joey interjected while trying not to glare at Maya's mother. "Thanks for the lift home by the way."

"Oh, it's nothing. Thank you for looking after Maya. Did you both at least have a good time before this little accident?"

"Yes, Mrs Roberts." Joey said though he felt a twinge of guilt. Had Maya had fun before Alana pushed her? He wasn't sure. He'd abandoned her even though he had been the one who had dragged her to that party.

* * *

He was still thinking later that night at home when he got a text from Derek.

_Howz Maya? D._ It read.

_She's ok_ he texted back.

_Good _was Derek's reply. Joey lay back on his bed. Everyone knew that Alana had been the one to push Maya into the pool. Maybe this would _finally_ get Alana off her back and for what seemed like the hundredth time Joey promised himself that he'd be a better friend to Maya at school.

This time, however, he really meant it.


End file.
